Access to Justice at UCL: Past and Present - Community Engagement & iLAC

2011

Launch of Centre for Access to Justice Grassroots Human Rights Project 

The CAJ Grassroots Human Rights project focuses on educating young people in local state schools about their human rights. Through this, the project hopes to increase legal literacy while inspiring young people to pursue legal education in the future.

2012

UCL Laws formally launches the UCL Laws Pro Bono Programme

The UCL Faculty of Laws formally launched a faculty-managed Pro Bono Programme in 2012. Before this, pro bono activities were primarily overseen by the UCL Law Society. 

2015

UCL Centre for Access to Justice wins the Social Enterprise Project Award 

The UCL Centre for Access to Justice received the Social Enterprise Project Award at the UCL Awards for Enterprise in recognition of its work providing free advice to those in the local community most in need of assistance.

UCL Students at the Centre for Access to Justice collect evidence to support Just for Kids Law in their Supreme Court Intervention in R (Tigere) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills [2015] UKSC 57

Students assisted by collecting and analysing evidence relevant to the legal issues raised in the case. By contributing to strategic litigation, students were able to meaningfully support Just for Kids Law, a charity working to advance children’s rights.

2016

Foundation of the UCL Integrated Legal Advice Clinic 

The UCL Integrated Legal Advice Clinic (iLAC) was established as a health justice partnership to provide free legal advice to patients of the Sir Ludwig Guttman Health & Wellbeing Centre while giving students hands-on experience of legal practice. iLAC focused initially on housing and welfare benefits work. From its early years, iLAC established itself as a key component of CAJ’s work, linking teaching, research, and public engagement. The establishment of a clinic within a health centre built on the faculty’s own research into legal needs and advice seeking behaviour. 

2018

UCL iLAC Relocation to Solar House 

The relocation of iLAC to Solar House provided a larger, dedicated space for iLAC’s legal advice services, teaching activities, and community engagement work.  The development of a permanent clinic space in Stratford allowed iLAC to expand its operations, expand its practice to include community care and education law, and support a greater number of clients and students on a full-time basis. 

Legal Aid Contracts and Specialist Quality Mark for iLAC

UCL iLAC secured legal aid contracts in housing and community care law. This makes UCL the only university in the United Kingdom to currently hold a legal aid contract. The contract allowed the clinic to provide publicly funded advice and representation in areas of law where available support is often limited. In addition to securing the contract, iLAC also obtained the Specialist Quality Mark, a recognised audit standard confirming that an organisation meets rigorous standards for delivering legal advice services. 

2019

Lucy Frazer QC MP visits UCL Centre for Access to Justice’s Integrated Legal Advice Clinic 

Lucy Frazer KC, then Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice), visited iLAC to discuss integrating legal and health services with Professor Dame Hazel Genn KC, Rachel Knowles, Thul Khan, Sarah Joy, and Catriona Macdonald. She also spoke with Access to Justice and Community Engagement (AJCE) students who support the advice service with casework and tribunal representation, and a service user who iLAC had been assisting. 

2020

UCL iLAC through the pandemic

UCL iLAC staff were recognised as key workers by UCL and were able to continue working from the clinic to serve the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students continued clinic work remotely.

CAJ director Rachel Knowles challenged the government’s ‘Coronavirus (COVID-19): guidance for children’s social care services.’ The guidance addressed the statutory duties that local authority children’s social services owe to children and care leavers under their purview. The guidance suggested, without primary legislation to support, that local authorities did not need to comply with their statutory duties to children where they were unable to during the pandemic. Students helped to prepare the challenge by identifying all the statutory duties that the government proposed to unlawfully reduce and preparing a detailed list as part of the pre-action correspondence. As a result of this challenge, the government revised and updated the guidance.

2021

Nomination for the LawWorks and Attorney General’s Student Pro Bono Awards under ‘Best Contribution by a Law School’ 

The awards celebrate the best pro bono activities undertaken by law students and law schools, and CAJ was shortlisted for the category of Best Contribution by a Law School.

2022

The Great Get Together 

The UCL iLAC team worked with UCL Culture to run an all-day interactive activity in the Olympic Park as part of its annual Great Get Together event. Called “The Department for Impossible Administration”, the activity was a chance for members of the public to gain an insight into the bureaucracy that many iLAC clients face on their journey to justice.

UCL iLAC wins Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award 

UCL iLAC received the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award in the Legal Aid Firm/Not-for-Profit Agency category. The award recognised iLAC’s high-quality legal work and its contribution to improving access to justice through its client work.

Partnership with Eversheds Sutherland for PIP Form Filling Project 

iLAC partnered with Eversheds Sutherland LLP to provide welfare benefits form-filling assistance, particularly for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) applications. The collaboration significantly expanded iLAC’s capacity to support clients seeking access to essential benefits. In 2023, the collaboration was shortlisted for a LawWorks Award for ‘Best New Pro Bono Activity.’

2023

Partnership with The Magpie Project and Clyde & Co

The Magpie Project, Clyde & Co, and iLAC established a collaborative form filling project aimed at supporting mothers with young children living in temporary accommodation. The partnership offers a service which is local in a child-friendly space, trauma informed and culturally aware. In 2024, the project was awarded a LawWorks Award for ‘Best New Pro Bono Activity.’

2024

Michael Marshall shortlisted for the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award in the category of Housing Law

The nomination recognised Michael’s work advising and representing clients across different areas of law to provide holistic support. Michael played an important role within iLAC not only as a practising solicitor but also as a supervisor supporting students involved in clinical legal education. Through his work, students gained practical experience assisting with case preparation, legal research, and client communication in housing law matters.

2025

Hackney Council concedes claim arguing unpublished housing allocations guidance is unlawful after challenge by UCL iLAC solicitor Thul Khan and UCL Laws alumnus Jeremy Ogilvie-Harris

iLAC successfully challenged Hackney Council’s unpublished housing allocation guidance. The claim argued that the council had relied on internal guidance affecting housing allocation decisions that had not been publicly published, raising concerns about transparency and fairness in the operation of the housing system. Following the legal challenge, the council conceded the claim and accepted that the guidance in question was unlawful.

MP Uma Kumaran visits UCL iLAC

Stratford MP Uma Kumaran visited the UCL Integrated Legal Advice Clinic to learn about its work supporting the local community. The visit highlighted the importance of university-led legal clinics in improving access to justice and supporting individuals facing social welfare law issues.